The Chicago Black Hawks turned to its "Scooter Line" of Stan Mikita, Kenny Wharram and Doug Mohns to blitz the opposition.

The Flyers have had two famous units. The first, and best, was the "LCB Line" of Reggie Leach, Bobby Clarke and Bill Barber.

The other was "The Rat Patrol" of Ken Linseman, Paul Holmgren and Brian Propp.

Now, isn't that romantic? The Rat Patrol!

Which brings us to the current Flyers.

How about "The Slot Machine" for either the line or the power play unit that Tim Kerr is on? Kerr generally scores most of his goals from the slot area. He also has a habit of registering three red lights - a sure payoff at Atlantic City on a real slot machine - when he's on. One reason for the decline in nicknames is the way coaches like to juggle their lines these days. But "The Slot Machine" seems appropriate for Kerr, Dave Poulin and Brian Propp.

The Flyers are well ahead of the pace that produced a club record 53 wins a year ago.

That comes as a real surprise to many hockey observers who felt the death of Pelle Lindbergh would leave the team in a shambles. Lindbergh's death not only stripped the Flyers of the best goalie in the NHL, but it also put an emotional burden on the shoulders of a very close-knit team.

To others, the rise isn't that surprising. A year ago Coach Mike Keenan was introducing his system of doing things. It took the team quite a while to get the full grasp of what Keenan was trying to put across. Once they did, they sizzled down the stretch (16-1 in the regular season from March 5 on) aand through the playoffs until injuries and the mighty Edmonton Oilers finally wore them down.

Keenan offered his reasons for the upgraded production.

"There are several apparent reasons," Keenan said. "Our specialty teams have been very effective and the goaltending is sharp. Our goals against is the best in the league."

The Flyers have one of the top penalty-killing units in the league.

"That's no surprise," said Mark Howe, a leading candidate for the Norris Trophy as the loop's top defenseman this year. "In the three-and-one-half years I've been here we've always been strong killing penalties.

"The big turnaround has been on our power play," Howe said. "Tim Kerr has been unreal and Brian Propp and Pelle Eklund have done a great job of setting him up."

There is another unseen factor for the team's challenge for the NHL's best record.

"The players on our hockey club are a year older and a year wiser," Keenan said. "And they are playing accordingly.

"The players knew what was expected of them over the first 40 games of the season," Keenan said. "We had an extremely difficult training camp and we were prepared to play every night and to be challenged every night. And now the players seem to be maturing and to accept that and as a result they've been playing at a very high level. Your club can only get better if you respond and that's what we've done so far." The Flyers have also grown to love the forechecking that makes them so effective.

"Forechecking is probably the most important thing we can do night in and night out," said Kerr, who leads the league in goal scoring but still dogs his man at the other end. "Forechecking takes away a lot of the opposition's game. It means we can spend more time in their end of the ice." The goalie tandem of Bob Froese and Darren Jensen are also contenders for the Vezina Trophy, which goes to the team that yields the fewest goals during the regular season. While neither is a Lindbergh, they are both effective within the defensive scheme of things that the Flyers have traditionally employed.

Remember, netminders like Phil Myre, Wayne Stephenson and Rick St. Croix all excelled when surrounded by the Philly forecheckers and defenseman intent on clearing away those lethal rebounds.

"Competition doesn't hurt anyone, particularly on our hockey club, where we like to keep our players motivated," Keenan said. "The two goaltenders are very aware of that philosophy and approach and have talked about it."

"I want to play," Froese admits. "But I understand Mike Keenan's approach. Darren Jensen has been excellent since being recalled from Hershey and I just know I have to stay ready for when they need me.